My six-month travail, by Ndume

Senator Ali Ndume (Borno South) is contemplating suing the Federal Government for unfair treatment during his trial for alleged links with Boko Haram.

Ndume, who addressed reporters at his residence in Maiduguri, at the weekend, lamented that the trial made his daughter lose her four months’ pregnancy.

“While the Federal Government struggled to find evidences to indict me, the media passed judgment on my ‘person and integrity’, he lamented.

His words: “For six years, the Federal Government put me on trial without any evidence to prove their allegations against me.

“After six years, the court said they had no case against me so I was acquitted.

But the media wasn’t fair to me. The spirit with which they reported my arraignment has not been matched or corroborated with the reports published on my acquittal.”

Ndume said he was still contemplating the way forward, especially on how to redeem his image through the court against the government, saying “I am yet to decide on whether to sue the Federal Government for damages, or speak to the media so that my own story would be heard.

“For six years, I was restricted, I could not travel, I could not move an inch, I was subjected to emotional torture when all the while the government knew that there was nothing against me, and they knew who the sponsors of Boko Haram are.

“And the saddest aspect of it all is that till the case was dismissed, nobody, including the media, could query the lame facts brought to court.

“Could you imagine, the Boko Haram spokesman mentioned some other persons but I was the only one taken to court? That shows I was the only person the government wanted to fight. “But I will ensure that my voice is heard and my side of the story is told as well, because there are so many things the world needs to know,” he added.